Photos: Two titans battle for title of tallest U.S. building

AP11.08.2013

This combination made from file photos shows Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, in Chicago on March 12, 2008, left, and One World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 5, 2013. Soaring above the city at 1,776 feet, 104-story One World Trade Center is in contention with Willis Tower for the title of America’s tallest building. A committee of architects recognized as the arbiters on world building heights is meeting Friday Nov. 8, 2013 in Chicago to decide whether a design change affecting One World Trade Center’s needle disqualifies its hundreds of feet from being counted, which would deny the building the title of nation’s tallest giving the title to the 110 story Willis Tower at 1,450 feet.

/ AP

This Sept. 22, 2013 file photo shows a partial view of One World Trade Center, a skyscraper built at the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Soaring above the city at 1,776 feet, 104-story One World Trade Center is in contention with Chicago’s Willis Tower for the title of America’s tallest building. A committee of architects recognized as the arbiters on world building heights is meeting Friday Nov. 8, 2013 in Chicago to decide whether a design change affecting One World Trade Center’s needle disqualifies its hundreds of feet from being counted, which would deny the building the title of nation’s tallest giving the title to the 110 story Willis Tower at 1,450 feet.Lefteris Pitarakis
/ AP

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

In this June 24, 2009, file photo Anna Kane, 5, looks down from “The Ledge,” at Chicago’s 110 story, 1,450 foot Willis Tower. The glass balcony is suspended 1,353 feet in the air and juts out 4 feet from the Sears Tower’s 103rd floor Skydeck. The Tower is in contention with the 104-story, 1,776 foot One World Trade Center, a skyscraper built at the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York as the tallest building in America. A committee of architects recognized as the arbiters on world building heights is meeting Friday Nov. 8, 2013 in Chicago to decide whether a design change affecting One World Trade Center’s needle disqualifies its hundreds of feet from being counted, which would deny the building the title of nation’s tallest giving the title to Willis Tower.Kiichiro Sato
/ AP

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

This Nov. 7, 2013, photo shows a view of Chicago’s 110 story, 1,450 foot Willis Tower. New York and Chicago are home to five of the tallest buildings in the U.S. Formerly known as the Sears Tower, the building has defined Chicago’s skyline. Built as a headquarters for Sears Roebuck and Co., the building is now home to London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings and is the world headquarters of United Continental Holdings, which operates United Airlines.M. Spencer Green
/ AP

People look over Manhattan from the observation deck of the Top of the Rock, overlooking the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, which claims to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on November 8, 2013 in New York, United States. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago today to decide whether the tower, at 1,776 feet, is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. At issue is the pinnacle of One World Trade and whether it is an antennae or a spire, as antennae are generally not counted in a building’s height and spires are.John Moore
/ Getty Images

In this Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, file photo taken with a fish eye lens, One World Trade Center, centre, towers over the wedge-shaped pavilion entrance of the National September 11 Museum, lower right, and the square outlines of the memorial waterfalls in New York. The marquee skyscraper at ground zero, One World Trade Center rises from the northwest corner of the site. Major tenants include the magazine publisher Condé Nast, the government’s General Services Administration and Vantone Holdings China Center, which will provide business space for high-profile international companies. New York and Chicago are home to five of the tallest buildings in the U.S.Mark Lennihan
/ AP

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

One World Trade Center, whose owners claim to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, towers over downtown Manhattan on November 8, 2013 in New York, United States. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago today to decide whether the tower, at 1,776 feet, is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. At issue is the pinnacle of One World Trade and whether it is an antennae or a spire, as antennae are generally not counted in a building’s height and spires are.John Moore
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

A newly lit beacon shines from atop the One World Trade Center, whose owners claim to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on November 8, 2013 in New York, United States. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago today to decide whether the tower, at 1,776 feet, is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. At issue is the pinnacle of One World Trade and whether it is an antennae or a spire, as antennae are generally not counted in a building’s height and spires are.John Moore
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

This Nov. 7, 2013, photo shows a partial view of Chicago’s 110 story, 1,450 foot Willis Tower. The Tower is in contention with the 104-story, 1,776 foot One World Trade Center, a skyscraper built at the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York as the tallest building in America. A committee of architects recognized as the arbiters on world building heights is meeting Friday Nov. 8, 2013 in Chicago to decide whether a design change affecting One World Trade Center’s needle disqualifies its hundreds of feet from being counted, which would deny the building the title of nation’s tallest giving the title to Willis Tower.M. Spencer Green
/ AP

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (L), which was formerly Sears Tower, rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

The Willis Tower (L), which was formerly Sears Tower, rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

This Sept. 22, 2013 file photo shows a partial view of One World Trade Center, a skyscraper built at the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Soaring above the city at 1,776 feet, 104-story One World Trade Center is in contention with Chicago’s Willis Tower for the title of America’s tallest building. A committee of architects recognized as the arbiters on world building heights is meeting Friday Nov. 8, 2013 in Chicago to decide whether a design change affecting One World Trade Center’s needle disqualifies its hundreds of feet from being counted, which would deny the building the title of nation’s tallest giving the title to the 110 story Willis Tower at 1,450 feet.Lefteris Pitarakis
/ AP

The Willis Tower (L), which was formerly Sears Tower, rises above the city’s skyline on November 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The building which stands 1,451 feet tall, not including the antennas, is waiting to learn if it will retain its title as the nation’s tallest building or if it will have to pass the title to New York’s newly constructed One World Trade Center which measures 1,368 feet without its decorative spire which adds another 408 feet making it 1776 feet tall. A decision from The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, headquartered in Chicago, is expected soon.Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

A newly lit beacon shines from atop the One World Trade Center, whose owners claim to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on November 8, 2013 in New York, United States. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago today to decide whether the tower, at 1,776 feet, is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. At issue is the pinnacle of One World Trade and whether it is an antennae or a spire, as antennae are generally not counted in a building’s height and spires are.John Moore
/ Getty Images

A couple kisses while on the observation deck of the Top of the Rock overlooking the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, which claims to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on November 8, 2013 in New York, United States. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago today to decide whether the tower, at 1,776 feet, is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. At issue is the pinnacle of One World Trade and whether it is an antennae or a spire, as antennae are generally not counted in a building’s height and spires are.John Moore
/ Getty Images

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